These notes are not intended as Minutes and do not report on each Meeting held. The aim is to give an observer's view of significant points as progress is made.

14 Nov 2016

The bank balance stood at £20,267.95, though an invoice for the bat survey at £2,136 remained outstanding. Further receipts of £150 from sale of recipe books had been received.

A notice declaring our application for Listed Building Consent had been posted on the fence of windmill. The outcome was therefore anticipated to be declared around the month end.

A site meeting had been held with the Historic England 'Buildings at Risk' Surveyor, who viewed the project with favour and made several suggestions for assisting our approach.

The Committee decided that current effort should concentrate on bringing the mill to a stable and sustainable state of conservation. The larger project of restoration of the machinery could be addressed after that.Work had been completed on uncovering of the tail track thanks to the efforts of Saffron Walden Rotary Club and the tarpaulin protecting the damaged roof had been repositioned and tied so that the end did not flap noisily. The lower floor of the buck had been cleaned but the steps to the door needed to have algae removed to reduce the risk of slipping. Committee Members agreed to carry this out.

The Committee decided to seek a local carpenter to undertake repairs to the doorframe as soon as possible.

The Technical Adviser reported that the recommended paint for protecting the mill was Kreidezeit, a three-pack system that would cost around £250 for painting the trestle. He was also awaiting a quotation for aluminium covers for the trestle quarter beams.

The ecologists had found a lone long-eared brown bat during the night survey. They did not see the need for a licence to work and recommended seeking planning agreement to a method of operation statement.

Fund raising continued. Around 30 copies of the recipe book; dance lesson had raised about £250 to date; changes had been made to the PayPal contributions button to take advantage of the ‘send money’ system between friends.

28 Sept 2016

The bank balance stood at £20,155.45. The Music Night resulted in a contribution of £732.50. The Church Restoration Fund benefitted similarly. Recipe books showed a net contribution of £649 and the 45 remaining to be sold should bring the total to more than £1000. The PayPal donation button on the website had realised £105.86 to date.

The application for Listed Building Consent (LBC) is with SCDC Planning Department but had not been validated within the expected 10-day period. The Committee was seeking ways to expedite the matter.

Some repairs were believed not to require LBC: Filling of shakes (splits) in the crosstrees and quarter beams with epoxy resin. Painting the trestle with an approved protective paint. Uncovering the tail assembly track. Replacing damaged weatherboards.

A rota had been arranged for airing the buck and this was working well.

It was also decided to box and store the ancillary equipment currently inside the mill then clean down the visible wood and metalwork.

The night-time bat survey showed no roosting colony but a lone bat was detected. This should not affect the restoration plans.

Funds for Phase 1 of the restoration were mostly in place so grant seeking and fund raising would be geared to achieving the completion of this Phase rather than looking for large grants for the whole project. A Craft Fair was being organised with proceeds going to both the Church Fund and the Windmill Trust. The Windmill Dance Group had started another series of lessons with a target of £500 for the fund.

The website continued to attract around 20 unique visitors per day viewing from 50 to 60 pages

13 Jun 2016

The bank balance stood at a little over £19,800, though invoices for printing of the recipe book and for Public Liability Insurance were outstanding.

The application for Listed Building Consent was still awaiting assembly of modified drawings of the trestle and restraining straps, but post meeting Cambridgeshire Windmill Consultancy completed and forwarded them in a form appropriate for the application document.

At a previous meeting, the Trustees had agreed that the door-frame should be repaired without the requirement of LBC. Post meeting Cambridgeshire Windmill Consultancy suggested a simple rot treatment leaving timber replacement to be made during the main restoration programme.

A second investigation of the structure of the circular path around which the tail assembly wheels travel had been completed. The structure of the bed appeared to be sound so that the top-dressingof small stones could be lifted, renovated and replaced relatively easily.

A new tarpaulin had been purchased and fitted without the need for working at height.

Two quotes has been received, both for a little over £2,000, for carry out the required bat night survey to check if the mill was used for breeding. The Trustees agreed that the work should be commissioned as soon as possible.

The Directors/Trustees met on 5th April and elected an additional Director, a new Trustee and two Members.

It was not appropriate to pursue the Heritage Lottery Fund application until LBC had been received and a clear plan of work to be done was available, so this is currently on hold. Whilst the South Cambs Community Chest gives relatively small grants, it could help with funding the bat survey so the Committee agreed that an application should be made.

Tickets had been printed for the Music Night on July 16 and marketing would start immediately.

A production print run of 200 had arrived and the Committee were pleased with the quality and finish. It was agreed that marketing and sales should begin as soon as possible.The date set for the Village Fete was Sunday July 17th. The Committee agreed to set up a stall as last year with the windmill feature for children and sweets as prizes.

It had been suggested that the buck should be opened at least monthly and preferably every twoweeks. The Committee members present agreed that they could set up a rota to achieve this.

20 May 2016Report to the Annual Parish Meeting

Summary

Progress on physical work has been frustratingly slow, but project planning and Listed Building Consent application are well in hand. Fundraising has continued throughout the year and just under £20,000 is held in the bank account with a further £15,000 reserved and held by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. A grant was received from the Parish Council for which the committee is very grateful. Grant applications, particularly for the National Lottery Heritage Fund, are being prepared.

Listed Building Consent (LBC)

Communication with South Cambs Planning Department has been difficult due to staffing problems but there is now a nominated person with whom we are in contact.

We have established that LBC is not granted without full detail of work, procedure and materials so is best sought for small defined pieces of work. Our consultants, Cambridgeshire Windmills Consultancy, have prepared a plan covering repair, protection and strengthening of the trestle and are working on drawings to accompany the application.

A Long-Eared Brown Bat has been found in the windmill in recent times so we must carry out a survey to see if it is being used as a breeding roost. This can only be carried out between May and September.

No work can start on the building before LBC is granted, other than clear maintenance and any resulting like-for-like replacement. We are planning to uncover the circular track around which the tail assembly rolls in the next few weeks.

Fundraising Initiatives

A ‘Windmill Day’ was held in the Village Hall on 13 June, the Trust took part in the Village Fun Day on 30 August and a Christmas Craft Fair donated part of its proceeds. Almost £600 was raised at these events.

Dance lessons were run from September until March and these raised £1000 for the Trust.

A recipe book with proceeds destined for the fund has been printed and is about to be promoted.

A Music Night is being planned for June in conjunction with the Church Restoration Group.

Grants and Applications

A grant of £2000 was received from the Parish Council,

Our GLCPC Liaison Representative is kindly co-ordinating an approach to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Church Restoration Group is giving assistance in the detail required and how best to present our case.

Protection Work

The building was covered with heavy duty plastic to make it watertight. This suffered badly in the storms last winter and a new cover has been purchased and fitted.

30 Mar 2016

​The Windmill Dance Group handed a cheque for a further £500 to the Treasurer. It had raised a total of £1000 from the initiative and was warmly thanked by the Chairman and Committee. This input would raise the cash in the bank account above £20,000. The Chairman had prepared thank you cards featuring photographs and drawings of the windmill and one of these was given to the Dance Group representative.

The millwrights engaged by the Committee had inspected the mill and were pleased that the woodwork had been protected from further water ingress by the temporary tarpaulin cover but it was noted that this had reached the end of its efficacy and would need to be replaced.

The Committee Member responsible for liaison on planning had established that the District Conservation Officer would only visit and offer comment on the proposed work once an application had been submitted. The application should concentrate on the work needed to stabilise the trestle and it was recognised by the millwrights that the original design of the steel straps required modification. The Committee agreed to use the design recently proven at Great Gransden mill.

Remaking the circular track around which the tailstock rolls was seen to be a distinct piece of work that could be commenced in the near future. Interest had been expressed by individuals from Rotary Clubs so the Secretary undertook to contact these Clubs to progress the idea.

The Trustees thought that their number should be increased and agreed on a separate meeting to discuss this and other membership categories.

Quotations for a night bat survey had been received but the Committee Member collecting the data was seeking greater clarification of their deliverables before making a recommendation.

With regard to seeking grant aid, much research and discussion with like organisations had been carried out and the Committee Member leading this initiative thought that it might take 4 to 6 months before a full application for a grant in excess of £100,000 could be submitted, for example to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Recipe Book project for fundraising was progressing with the new print company but the first proof had required a number of corrections.

A Committee Member volunteered to meet with representatives of the Church Restoration Committee to organise the Music Night planned for June 16.

18 Feb 2016

Finances stood at just over £19,700 in the bank account with £15,000 held by SPAB. The account had received donations of £500 from the Windmill Dance Group and £211 from the Craft Fair. The Committee expressed its thanks for the contributions and the efforts made by the organisers. An invoice for the initial bat survey (£666) had been paid during the period.

The situation with respect to bat occupancy was debated and it was decided that, as a night survey during the breeding season was recommended, quotations should be obtained and compared prior to summer when the survey would need to be conducted.

The Consultant Mill Restorers had spoken with Historic England and with the Historic Buildings Conservation Officer of South Cambs DC and established that Listed Buildings Consent (LBC) is required when any additional materials are added. Thus the iron straps for reinforcing the trestle did need LBC. The advice also suggested that a series of LBC should be anticipated with each having a small, definable scope. The technical team agreed to meet at the mill later in the month to finalise details for the first LBC application.

The recipe book has been ready for printing since December but the chosen printer has withdrawn the offer of assistance. An alternative has been defined and the print run is awaited.

The Windmill Dance Group was continuing until March 11 and completing the venture with a dance on March 18.

A Music Evening was being arranged for July 16 2016 together with the Church Restoration Appeal.

The Hon Secretary stated that she needed to resign to concentrate on other commitments. She was thanked by the Chairman and the Committee for all of her efforts over the previous four years.The new Secretary may be contacted at dm@greatchishillwindmill.com ​

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